Management Influence on Psychological Safety: Results from Employees in U.S. Federal Government Organizations in the State of Hawaii

This qualitative descriptive study aimed to investigate how federal employees in Hawaii described psychological safety and the impact of their supervisors’ influence on psychological safety at work. This study examined the phenomena of psychological safety in the workplace using transformational leadership theory and the psychosocial safety climate (PSC) theory as its theoretical underpinnings. In conducting this study, two research questions (RQs) were employed: 1) How do federal government employees describe psychological safety in their workplace? and 2) How do federal government employees describe their supervisors’ influence on psychological safety in their workplace? To reach a total of 46 participants for the study, the study recruited from an estimated 12,053 federal government workers who were members of the LinkedIn group for Federal Employees of the U.S. Government. In addition to the study questionnaire, 14 of the questionnaire respondents took part in a subsequent Zoom interview. The six-step method developed by Braun and Clarke was used to analyze the data for relevant themes. Six themes were consequently found to address the RQs. The results imply that motivation and organizational policy have an impact on behavioral output, which in turn affects how well individuals contribute, express ideas, speak up, and participate in a psychologically safe workplace. It is advised that this study be replicated for future research in order to cover all levels of government (e.g., municipal, state, and federal) across the United States and various government demographics.